Casket-holding means for hearses.



W. H. PFEIFFER.

CASKET HOLDING MEANS FOR HEARSES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20. 191i.

Patented May 29, 191?.

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WILLIAM H. PFEIFFER, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

CASKET-HOLDING; MEANS FOR HEARSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, 191?.

Application filed February 20, 1917. Serial No. 150,267.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. PFEIFFER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gasket- Holding Means for Hearses, of which the following is a specification.

It is the object of my invention to provide a simple and inexpensively constructed mechanism for use in hearses, to clamp caskets of varying sizes to the floor thereof and prevent movement or shifting of the casket during its transportation in the vehicle. A further object of my invention is to provide adjustable clamping means for the purpose set forth, having a single detachable actuating crank for use both in clamping and releasing the casket, the means for retaining the clamping-devices in holding position being such that they may be overcome by reverse movement of the crank.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a hearse-floor provided with holding means embodying my invention, the sides of thehearse-body being in horizontal section, Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the hearse-floor, Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section on the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a detail transverse vertical section on the plane of the line H of Fig. 2, Fig. 5 is a detail longitudinal vertical section through the toothed wheel and crank-socket, showing the crank as detached therefrom, and Fig. 6 is a detail side view of one of the clamp-members, a portion thereof being in vertical section.

In carrying out my invention the body of the hearse may be constructed in any desired and suitable manner, and in Fig. 1 the sides 7 of the body are shown as consisting of glass panels, while at the rear end there are doors 8 which may be opened to insert and remove the casket, of which the outlines are indicated by the dotted lines in said Fig. 1. In the floor 9 of the body, adjacent to the doors 8, there is arranged a long roller 10, and a'plurality of smaller rollers 11 are arranged in the floor at the several positions indicated, all of said rollers projecting slightly above the floor-level so that the casket will rest thereon and may be easily moved longitudinally of the floor. A smooth metal plate 12 is also disposed on the floor in front of the roller 10, the surface of said plate being slightly below the upper edges of the rollers, so as not to contact normally with the bottom of the casket. Said plate serves to prevent marring of the floor when pushing the casket into the hearse, should the rear end of the casket be raised too high after the front end has been placed upon the roller 10. Near the front end of the floor 9 there is a stop-pin 13, as shown in Fig. 1, for limiting forward movement of the casket when pushing the same into place upon the floor.

In applying my clamping devices to the floor 9, I provide therein two pairs of transversely extending slots, spaced uniformly from the longitudinal center-line thereof, the edges of the slots being inclosed by suitable plates 14 secured to the floor. For each slot there is a movable clamp-member having an inwardly curved and toothed head-portion 15, of which the base rests slidably on the slot-plate 14, while a cylindrical stem 16 extends down through the slot so as to be movable therein. The lower portion of the stem is threaded and is screwed through an opening in the horizontal part of'an angleplate 17 the same fitting slidably against the lower side of the floor, and the downwardly extending flange thereof having a transverse opening for the passage therethrough of a small flexible metal cable 18. The lower end of the stem 16 also has a transverse opening for the cable, and carries a set-screw 19 which may be tightened to secure the cable fixedly to the clamp-stem.

A shaft 20 extends longitudinally be neath the floor at the center thereof, said shaft fitting revolubly in openings through the intermediate cross-pieces 21 beneath the floor. At its rear end the shaft has a sleeve 22 secured thereon, and said sleeve fits revolubly in an opening in the cross-piece 23 at the rear end of the floor. The sleeve 22 projects beyond the rear end of the shaft and terminates at the rear side of the crosspiece 23, the latter carrying an escutcheonplate 24 having an opening therein coincident with the opening for the sleeve. The projecting end-portion of the sleeve is notched at the sides thereof, and forms a socket for receiving detachably the end of a hand-crank 25, the latter having a crosspin 26 for engagement in the notches at the sides of the sleeve or socket. In Fig. 5 the hand-crank is shown in detached relation to the socket.

On the shaft 20, at positions alined transversely with each pair of clamp-members, there are secured small helicallygrooved drums 27. For each of said drums there is provided a cable 18 of which both ends are fixedly secured to the drum, several coils or turns of the cable lying in the helical groove so that by rotation of the drum a a part of the cable may be unwound from one end while a like portion of the cable is wound onto the other end of the drum. From the drum a portion of the cable extends laterally to connect directly with the clamp-member at one side of the floor, thence passes around a small pulley 28 arranged near the outer end of the slot for said clampanember, thence extends back past the drum to connect with the opposite clamp-member, thence passes around a second small pulley 29 arranged at the outer end of the slot for the latter clamp-member, and thence returns to the drum 27. By the described arrangement of the cables, rotation 'of the shaft in one direction will move all the clamp-members in uniformly toward the longitudinal center-line of the floor 9, while reverse movement of the shaft will move the clamp-members outwardly.

For retaining the clamp-members in adjusted positions, there is secured on the shaft 20, adjacent to the rear cross-piece 23, a wheel 30 of which the peripheral portion is notched to form teeth somewhat like those of a ratchet-wheel, the faces of the teeth being unequally inclined to radial planes, but the shorter tooth-faces not being quite radial in direction. A pawl-lever 31 is mounted pivotally on a pin 32 carried at the inner side of the cross-piece 23, a spring 33 being connected with one end of the lever, and the tension of said spring holding the other end of the lever in yicldable engagement with the teeth of the wheel 30, all as shown clearly in Fig. 4-. The arrangement is such that in turning the shaft to move the clamp-members inwardly the longer faces of the teeth will strike the pawl-lever, which will offer but a slight resistance to the movement. Opposite movement of the shaft will meet with much greater resistance, however, since the short faces of the teeth will then engage the end of the pawl-lever, but the angle of the tooth-faces is so proportioned that by the application of a sufficient force thereto the pawl-lever may be pushed outwardly and the shaft turned notwithstanding the resistance offered by the pawl-lever.

From the foregoing the operation of the mechanism will be apparent. The range of movement of the clamp-members 18 such that they may be moved apart far enough to receive the widest casket between them, or moved inwardly so as to securely clamp the smallest casket between them. The two sets or pairs of clamp-members are so spaced longitudinally of the floor 9 that both are engageable with the shortest casket. After a casket has been placed in the usual man ner at the desired position upon the floor, it is merely necessary to apply the handcrank 25 to the socket at the rear end of the haft 20, and turn the shaft until the incurved toothed upper ends of the clamp heads firmly engage the sides of the casket, after which the crank is removed and the clamypdieads remain fixed in position to hold the casket securely in place, since the slight force exerted by any tendency of the casket to move laterally will .be insufficient to overcome the resistance of the pawl-lever 31 to reverse movement of the wheel 30 and shaft. When it is desired to release the casket, the hand-crank is again applied to the shaft-socket, and the force which may be applied at the relatively large radius of the crank-handle will readily overcome the resistance of the pawl-lever, thus enabling the necessary reverse movement of the shaft to move the clamp-members outwardly.

New, having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent-is:

1. In a casket-holding mechanism for hearses, a floor, clamp-members movable in transverse slots in said floor, means including "a longitudinal shaft and flexible mem- 100 here disposed beneath the floor and connected with said clamp-members for actuating them simultaneously either toward or away from the longitudinal center-line of the lioor, yielding means in connection with 105 said shaft for retarding rotation thereof and retaining the clamp-members in casket-holding position, and a hand-crank for turning the shaft in opposition to said rotation-retarding means.

2. Casket-holding means for hearses, comprising a floor having pairs of transverse slots therein, pairs of clamp-members having casket-engaging heads above the floor and stem-portions extending through the 115 slots and slidable therein, a longitudinal shaft journaled beneath the floor, means for rotating the same, means for retarding rotation thereof, drums securedon said shaft adjacent to each pair of clamp-members, a 120 exible member for each drum, said member having its ends secured to the drum and intermediate portions secured to the pair of clamp-members, and guiding means for said flexible member whereby the pair of olamp- 125 members are movable in opposite directions by unidirectional rotation of the shaft.

3. Casket-holding means forhearses, comprising the combination with a suitable body, of transversely movable clamp-heads,

a longitudinal actuating-shaft, flexible connecting means between the shaft and clampheads for actuating the latter toward and away from each other according to the direction of rotation of the shaft, a handcrank attachable to the shaft, and means florfdifierentially retarding rotation of the s a t.

4. Casket-holding means for hearses, comprising the combination With a floor having pairs of transverse slots therein, of clampmembers extending through said slots and having casket-engaging heads thereon above the floor, a longitudinal shaft journaled beneath the floor, means for actuating said shaft, means for retarding rotation thereof differentially, flexible means connecting the clamp-members in pairs, guiding means for said flexible means, and a drum on the shaft connected With said flexible means and adapted to unwind a part thereof and Wind another part of the same thereon simultaneously.

5. In a casket-holding mechanism for hearses, a floor having pairs of transverse slots disposed on opposite sides of its longitudinal center-line, clamp-members slidably disposed in said slots, a longitudinal actuating-shaft, a drum secured on said shaft between each pair of slots and clamp-members, a pulley arranged near the outer end of each slot, and a cable connected With the drum and extending therefrom to the clamp member at one side, thence to the pulley at said side, thence to the opposite clamp-member, thence to the pulley at the latter side, and thence returning to the drum and being connected therewith.

WM. H. PFEIFFER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

